PlanetFargo

Mars Needs Gamers

NASA still claims it didn't happen. The major news networks have ignored the story. But earlier this month, deny it as they try, four teenagers made history; they were the first humans to walk on Mars and return to Earth unscathed. They had little in common but for a love of computer gaming and a desire to touch the unknown. In an exclusive three-part report, GameSpy looks at their miraculous 10-month odyssey.

A Tower Emerges from the Scrap Heap

December, 2000. A dark shape rises from amidst the hollowed rusted automobile and aircraft hulks that populate the grounds of "Meyer's Tire and Scrap" in Zelienople, Pennsylvania. With little in the way of ceremony, white smoke billowed out between the upended crinkled masses of cars and abandoned trailers, and then suddenly a low rumble erupted into a roar that split the sky. The dark shape stirred, then rose skyward. White fire spewed from the base of the structure, and within moments the rocket roared into the heavens as a rickety steel gantry collapsed around it. Dogs barked. Distant houses turned on their lights. Through parted curtains, Zelienople stared at the white streak of smoke that carved its way into the sky, unaware that the town was suddenly perched on the precipice of history.

But the ten month Mars mission that lauched that day from their backyards had been in planning for at least a year. I myself took a trip to Western Pennsylvania to uncover the story behind the teens who made it happen. Let's take a look at how they did it and why.

"They Cancelled Sim Mars."

Brody, a grim gangly 18 year old with heavy glasses and a ragged flannel shirt, waved his arms emphatically as we spoke. With his fanaticism, it was easy to see how this young high-schooler managed to surround himself with a crew and achieve the impossible. As we talked, the monitor behind him flickered in observer mode during a game of the Castle Wolfenstein test.

Brody: NASA stopped at the moon. They never went any farther, not even to Mars, our next door neighbor. What, did the cold war end there? What happened? I mean, I wasn't even alive the last time we walked on the moon. Total loss. So then I thought, if NASA wasn't going to take us to Mars, then the videogame industry would save us. So I waited for Sim Mars, from Maxis, the company that did Sim City. And you know what happened?

Fargo: They cancelled it?

Brody: They cancelled Sim Mars! What, why? Why? What do THEY know about Mars that WE don't? Since both civilian space agencies and the games industry failed me, I knew what I had to do. During Trig I started sketching out rocket trajectories. Check it out: [he holds up a crumpled piece of graph paper] This is Earth's orbit, there's Mars, and here's the old Blink 182 bunny rabbit logo, sweet.

The crew capsule, upright, during construction.

With Brody's mission clear, he gained permission from Meyer's Tire and Scrap to start working on their property on what he told them was a 'school project.' He then set out to assemble a crew of crack high-school students from among his gaming buddies, young in body but tough as steel. Let's meet the crew of this incredible voyage.